Lender Implode-O-Meter

I just stumbled across the Mortgage Lender Implode-o-Meter which tracks the implosion of mortgage lenders, much like F@cked Company tracked the implosion of the dot-bombs.

I have poked through the site a bit and it's a throwback to the stories i witnessed (first hand unfortunately) from the early part of the decade.

Stop the mortgage bailout on NPR Wednesday

I just received an update about the stop the mortgage bailout initiative. Tune in to NPR tomorrow to hear more about it.

"Hi all. ?Thanks for your efforts against the bailout. ?We have good news; as a direct result of all of your hard work, the media is finally starting to wake up to the reality that there is side to the bailout other than the cheerleading that is currently the mainstay. ?

Tomorrow morning, on the national news radio program "Morning Edition," NPR will air a piece that includes interviews with Stop the Housing Bailout, Patrick.net, and Seattle Bubble. ?We are also in contact with the New York Times, and hope that an article will be forthcoming about our efforts to stop the bailout.?

Please continue to post about this issue. ?And -- as we will be encouraging folks to do on the site -- please contact your local media outlet to pressure them for more balanced bailout coverage!

Best. - M.?

http://www.stopthehousingbailout.com"

The real estate fallout spreads

I had dinner with a customer last night who works for a major US retailer.. He mentioned that they had done some analysis recently looking for potential growth areas to target this year, and as they were analyzing the overall real estate segment, two sub-segments showed major declines recently. Realtors, and mortgage brokers.

The fallout from the popping of the housing bubble is starting to spread into my day job.

Portland Added to Restricted List for Mortgage Insurance

skeptictank pointed this out over on the Portland Housing blog...

Portland Added to Restricted List

The actual list is here

A description of their new policy is here

It looks like Portland has become a big enough risk to add us to the restricted list, which will make it harder for some people to get a mortgage, further depressing the local market.

The mortgage rate freeze is a bad idea

I'm sure I'm not the only one - outside of those who took out mortgages they couldn't afford - who thinks the rate freeze bailout is a bad idea. Ignoring all the potential legal issues with the plan, or the fact that it might be impossible to actually define who will be helped, this basically amounts to a bailout for those that made a poor decision.

I certainly didn't get any help 5 years ago when some of my internet stocks crashed. That's not nearly as heart-wrenching as watching little Johnny lose his house because his parents bought a house they couldn't afford with a mortgage that shouldn't have existed in the first place.

I hope the bailout gets tossed out in court. As painful as it might be for everybody, letting the market correct itself is the best way to go. If we don't get the bad loans off the books, we'll be in the same situation that Japan was in 20 years ago. And I'm sure nobody wants that.